Grid Poet — 31 August 2026, 16:00
Solar at 38.8 GW and wind at 25.1 GW dominate, collapsing day-ahead prices to €1/MWh amid massive oversupply.
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Grid analysis Claude AI
At 16:00 on a late-August afternoon, Germany's grid is overwhelmingly renewable at 93%, driven by 38.8 GW of solar and 25.1 GW of combined wind. Total generation stands at 74.2 GW against a reported consumption of 0.0 GW, though this figure likely reflects a data gap rather than true zero demand; assuming typical weekday afternoon demand in the range of 55–65 GW, the system is generating substantial net exports on the order of 10–20 GW. The day-ahead price of €1.00/MWh confirms extreme oversupply conditions, consistent with high solar and strong onshore wind coinciding simultaneously. Thermal generation is minimal — brown coal persists at 3.2 GW likely on must-run constraints, while gas and hard coal together contribute just 2.1 GW, indicating the merit order has pushed nearly all dispatchable capacity out of the market.
Grid poem Claude AI
The sun and wind have drowned the wires in gold and motion, pushing price to nearly nothing — a kingdom of electrons with no throne to sit upon. Coal clings to the margins like ash on a cooling tower's lip, too stubborn to surrender its last smoldering breath.
Generation mix
Wind onshore 30%
Wind offshore 4%
Solar 52%
Biomass 5%
Hydro 2%
Natural gas 2%
Hard coal 1%
Brown coal 4%
93%
Renewable share
25.2 GW
Wind (on + offshore)
38.8 GW
Solar
74.2 GW
Total generation
+74.2 GW
Net export
1.0 EUR/MWh
Day-ahead price
20.8°C / 21 km/h
Temp / Wind speed
Open-Meteo, Kassel (51.3°N 9.5°E) · surface estimate from 100 m wind
27.0% / 96.0 W/m²
Cloud cover / Radiation
51
gCO₂/kWh
Image prompt
Solar 38.8 GW dominates the scene as a vast expanse of crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels stretching across rolling green farmland in the right half and centre-right of the composition, their aluminium frames glinting under a mostly clear late-afternoon summer sky with scattered cumulus clouds (27% cover). Wind onshore 22.2 GW fills the centre and left-centre as dozens of tall three-blade turbines on lattice and tubular towers, blades spinning briskly in the 20 km/h breeze, receding into atmospheric haze across gentle German hills with late-summer green foliage. Wind offshore 2.9 GW appears as a small cluster of turbines visible on a distant horizon line suggesting the North Sea. Brown coal 3.2 GW occupies the far left as two hyperbolic cooling towers with thin lazy steam plumes rising against the sky, attached to a compact lignite plant with conveyor belts and coal bunkers. Biomass 3.5 GW sits as a modest wood-chip power station with a single stack and stored timber nearby, just left of centre. Hydro 1.6 GW appears as a small run-of-river weir with a powerhouse nestled in a tree-lined valley in the middle distance. Natural gas 1.4 GW is rendered as a small CCGT unit with a single slim exhaust stack, barely producing any visible exhaust, tucked behind the cooling towers. Hard coal 0.7 GW is a single small traditional power station chimney with minimal output, adjacent to the brown coal facility. The lighting is full bright afternoon daylight at 16:00 in late August — sun relatively high in the west, casting warm golden light and long-ish shadows beginning to stretch eastward. The sky is open, calm, and expansive, reflecting the near-zero electricity price. The atmosphere is warm and summery with lush green vegetation, wildflowers along field margins, and a sense of peaceful abundance. Highly detailed oil painting in the tradition of 19th-century German Romantic landscape painters — rich saturated colour, visible confident brushwork, atmospheric aerial perspective with hazy blue distances — but with meticulous engineering accuracy in every turbine nacelle, PV cell pattern, cooling tower curvature, and industrial detail. No text, no labels.
Grid data: 31 August 2026, 16:00 (Berlin time) · Generated 2026-08-31T14:20 UTC · Download image